Women’s Health vs. The Trump Effect

At a Feminists United meeting, Greta Moss discusses the future of health care and how it impacts her personally under President Trump.
Photo by Martin Musialczyk

By Allegra Simpkins

The recent election has caused an uproar regarding women’s reproductive rights and other health issues, especially in majority blue states like Washington.

Trump has retracted some statements regarding a few of his policies this past week, but his conservative position on abortion seems to remain — maintaining pro-life values except in the case of rape, incest and the well-being of the mother. With a seat open on the Supreme Court, Trump plans to appoint a pro-life justice who would potentially be open to reversing the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling which made abortion legal nationwide.

The reversal of Roe v. Wade would make abortion a matter of individual state legislation. While the Pacific Coast is one of the areas of the country that will likely maintain full access, other areas of the country won’t have the same outcome.

For women in areas where clinics will be losing funding or closing altogether, this creates a problem. Women will need to travel to other states for specific services and the travel costs can add up to more than the service itself. Not only does closure create more hoops to jump through, but it creates a world where women are more likely to self-induce abortions, putting the mother’s life at stake.

“No matter what your views are politically, nobody else has the right to decide how I (should) treat my body but me,” Shoreline student Paxten Foster said. “It’s not just about abortions, it’s the uncertainty of our rights to choose for ourselves and the safety we deserve when we decide.”

While some women are in the stage of life where it’s common to avoid having a child, many others are worried about wanting to have children and thinking maybe they should avoid it.

As of today, the United States is the only developed country that doesn’t guarantee paid family leave. This causes problems not only within the household during a time when a family should be relaxing as much as possible, but in the workplace, too. Trump has taken this on as a problem that needs facing, although his proposal only includes six weeks of paid leave for the arrival of a new child, which many women fear isn’t enough.